Artificial hand.



J. F. RUWLEY.

ARTIFICIAL HAND.

APPLICATION FILED DEILN. I9I5.

Patented Feb. 2S, 1916.

il??? f Cil il i WTA@ JAMES F. ROWLEY, OF CHICAG. ILLINGIS.

ARTIFICIAL HAND.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Feb. 292, Mit.

Application filed December 27'. 1915. Serial No. 68,882

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it knownthat I, JAMES F. ROWLEY, a citizen ofthe llnited States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial .Hands7 of which the following is a specifiation;

This invention relates mainly to artificial hands and more particularly to improvements in the structure of the thumb andtwo adjacent fingers and Ameans for operating the thumb. Heretofore, provision for thumb movement has been limited substantially to a hinge joint disposed intermediately of the length of the thumb'with its pintle extending crosswise, whereby the movement of the thumb was similar to that of a human thumb having movement only at the second joint connecting the metacarpal and first phalanx. Limited to such a joint it was im'- possible for the wearer to simulate the usual and natural action of the human hand as there could be no transverse movement corresponding in any sense with that of the first metacarpal, and such prior movement being analogous lto the movement of the human thumb at the outermost joint.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved method of mounting and actuating the thumb in a manner adapted for simulating the natural action of the thumb in opening and closing the hand, particularly as to the movement of the Vthumb as a whole with respect to the metacarpus or 'body of the hand: to provide an improved mounting and arrangement of the thumb and the two adjacent lingers in such. manner as to facilitate gripping an article thereby; to provide for resilient backward yielding of the foreinge r in such manner as to accommodate'articles of different thickness or size held between the thumb and the two fingers adjacent thereto; to provide improved means for locking the thumb in its gripping position; to provide manual control means extending back from the thumb for attachment to the body .of the wearer; to provide resilientrestoring means adapted for automatically reti-acting the lthumb when it is released after having been'swung for- Wardn by action of the wearer; and to provide a hand sin'iulating the natural yielding character of the human hand and adapted for shaking hands and for handling articles in a life-like manner.

i An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which: I

Figure l is a back view of the right arm` hand and suspender as applied to the wearer; the latter being' showny fragmentarily by dotted lines. l ig. is a side view of the hand with the thumb swung forward against the-two adjacent fingers, and holding a pencil. Fig. 3 is a palm view ofthe hand also with the thumb swung forward7 but with nothing held in the hand. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the hand with the front part of the palm removed, showing the means whereby the thumb is swung forward and retracted. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section through the little linger on the line A--A of Fig. 25. Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary ysection o"n the line B-B of Fig. '2. Fig. T is an enlarged fragmentary view on the line C-C of Fig. el. vFig. S is a detail of the thumb lock plunger. i

' In the construction shown in the drawingsgthe artificial member as a whole comprises a hollow forearm l having therein a socket adapted to receive. the stump of the wearers forearm. A hand member 2 is mounted o-n said forearm member in any desired manner, preferably by a joint of ball and socket nature, adapted to permit some degree of swinging and turning of the hand with respect to the forearm part. as will be understood. Means are provided for gripping the wearers upper arm l, said means comprising a frame 5 hinged at (5to the forearm member l in such manner as to provide for elbow action. and also including a wide band T embracing the arm, straps and' buckles being provided thereon asl at 3.1 to facilitate adjustable attachment to the wearer.

Means for operating the hand are provided in the form of a suspender or harnesslike structure' responsive to movements of the body, said means being disposed across `the back of the wearer andbeing adapted for adjustment as at 8.1v to tit the shoulders as at 9 and l() and connected to the band 7 by themeans lf2-.for giving support to the device as a whole,l said suspender also havin g flexible means ll and l5 extending down to the' hand, for actuating the thumb by movement of the shoulders7 as hereinafter more fully` described. The cord lflcoacts ydirectly with the hand. and the supporting loo-p 15 on which the upper end of said cord nger 24`are rigid with themetacarpus 19,'

but the index finger 22 and little finger 25 are hinged at the base on'pintles 27S an'd 29 respectively and are provided with resilient means 3l urging them forward. All of said fingers are curved or crooked somewhat and l are disposed normally in a partly closed position with respect to the metacarpus, said index finger and little finger being swingable backward so that the hand may open somewhat.

The thumb member 21 is swingably mounted at its base on a hinge pintle 35, the axis of which is disposed lengthwise of the hand and substantially in alinement with the index finger when the latter is swung back to its open position. The thumb as a whole is inclined somewhat with respect to its said pintle 35, and comprises a hublike base part 37 coaxial with said pintle and a body part 39 and 40 corresponding with the two phalanges of the human thumb. Said thumb member is crooked about forty-five degrees at the point 43 corresponding with the middle joint of the nat' ural thumb where the thumb metacarpal and first' phalanx meet, so that the outer or body part is disposed at an angle of about fortyfive' degrees to the hand. The thumb and fingers thus formed and arranged are so disposed that vwhen the thumb is swung forward against the fingers, the inner side of the tip of the thumb first strikes diagonally against the outer part of the index finger 22,

and thereby pushes it back, permitting the.

thumb to slide across said finger and come to rest against the side of the outer part of the middle finger More specifically the pulp of the thumb strikes and slides across the pulp of the forefinger and comes to rest partly against the forefinger. and partly against the sideof the middle finger. In other words the thumb rotates into and out of contact with the fingers.

The thumb is swung forward by a pull on the cord 14, the lower end of which is attached to the thumb adjacent to the base or hub part 37. In order that said cord may pull with .substantially uniform turning ef- 4 fectfor all positions of the thumb, the inner side of the hub, corresponding with the ball of the thumb, is grooved peripherally asin a pulley sheave, to receive the coacting part of said cord. The ycord groove 45 so provided is nearly as deep as the cord is thick and extends through an arc of about forty five degrees corresponding substan-` tially with' the amplitude of thumb movement. The outer part of 'said groove is in contiguous -alin'ement with a vperforaton 47 extending through the thumb, in which the cord 1l is anchored by the set screw i8 which is accessibly disposed in the opposite side of the thumb, where it may easily be concealedby plugging the hole as will be understood. Said cord li is disposed crosswise of the hand inside of and concealed normally. by the palm. A :large section 5() of the palm is made removable, as understood in the art, so as to give access to the interior of the hand, lsaid part 50 preferably being slidable edgewise away from the thumb for removal. k(Jiuide means are provided therefor including a pair of rollers or pulleys 51 and 52,'one of which, adjacent to the thumb and opposite the groove i5, is disposed with its axis extending lengthwise of the hand, the other being positioned somewhat farther back toward thev wrist and adjacentto the back edge ofthe hand and withI its axis" disposed perpendicularly to the ing, andthe other end coacts with a rod or link 65, one endof which projects int-o the open end of said casing.-v Said restoring means as a whole is connected at its ends to v the thumb and m'etacarpus respectively, the outer end of thelink 65 being connected turnably to the thumb at 69 and the closed end of the casing being turnably connected or seated at 70 adjacent to its outer end, at the back edge of the hand as shown in Fig. 7. a In order to enable the wearer to set or fix the thumb either in itswholly closed posi-r tion 'orin any one of several intermediate positions, llocking means are provided including a latch in the form of a bolt `or plunger 73 mounted slidably onl ythe hand adjacent to the wrist and oppositethe'ad- .jacent end of the hub 37. hub is provided with a series of apertures or sockets 75, 76 and 77 varranged in an arc `concentrically with the thumb pintle 35 for it' is attached to the hand v'and is also proi vided with a handle part 85 to facilitate direct operation by the wea-rer'with the i.

other hand. A wear plate'87 is provided on ica Said end'of the the lock end of said hub and said sockets are formed therein, the order recited being that in which they are brought into registry with the plunger T3 as the thumb is swung forward.

The mounting of the thumb 21 for swinging bodily as a w hole, and the method of operation are closely analogous to the corresponding features in the human hand. The thumb as a whole turns on a joint adjacent to the wrist corresponding with the joint at the base of the thumb where the first metacarpal is joined to the adjacent wrist bone or trapeziuni. The cord 1l corresponds substantially in position and effect with the thumb closing muscle or 'adductor gollicis, which swings the thumb as a whole forward on the trapezium joint, toward the fingers. The restoi'ing spring G1 corre sponds in effect with-the adductor muscle which swings the thumb back as a whole away from tlie fingers. In order to accom inodate the swinging movement of the thumb restoring members 65 and G2 respectively, the thumb base 3T and metacarpus 19 are apertured or slotted at 90 and 91 respectively, as shown in Figs. l and 7. In order that the thumb and pivoted finger members may present a most natural appearance and operate in a. most natural manner, their bases are rounded coiicentrically with their hinged pintles and the sockets therefor in the metacarpus are correspondingly rounded s0 as to present a substantially smooth and continuous surface of the hand for all positions of the thumb and fingers.

The hand herein described is mechanically distinguished from the prior devices most conspicuously in that the path or locus of the .thumb is substantially like or similar to a segment of the frustum of a cone rather than fiat or planar in character.

. The operation of the embodiment shown as a whole is as follows: The artificial arm is attached to the wearer and is adjusted by the several means provided therefor, the

vsuspender attached to the shoulders being suitably adjusted, with respect to the tension, across theback so as to facilitate va i-,ying the tension on the thumb operating cord at the will of the wearer by relative movement of the shoulders. By throwing one or both of the shoulders back the tension on the suspender is relaxed. This releases the tension on the thumb closing cord and permits the restoring spring to throw the thumb back. In order to swing the thumb forward or close it against the fingers, the

wearer throws one or both of the shoulders forward somewhat so las to increase the tension on the suspender across the back and thereby pull upward more or less on the thumb cordy sufficiently to swing the thumb forward to the extent desired. By this means the wearer is enabled to grasp land piel; up most of the articles one may wish to use, as for example to handle a newspaper, to remove ones hat. to hold a pencil for writing, to hold a garden hoe, to shake hands, and to perform many other operations as will be understood. When a suitable glove is worn` the hand described is scarcelyy distinguishable by casual observation from a natural hand. even when performing its various functions. j

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following relation with said finger 3. An artificial hand in which the forefinger and thumb are hingedv on nonparallel axes to the metacarpus, the middle finger being rigid thereon` resilient means urging said index finger forward, means for urging said thumb forward into prehensile relation with said fingers, and means for locking said thumb in its forward position.

if. An artificial hand, comprising a metacarpus or body part and one or more finger members thereon. in combination with a bent thumb member hinged thereto on an axis disposed lengthwise of the hand, and means for swinging said thumb member for.- ward against said finger member or members. i

An artificial hand in which the forefinger and thumb are hinged on nonparallel axes to the metacarjms. the middle finger being substantially rigid thereon and said fingers being normally in a partly closed position. said index finger being held forward yieldingly in said position and said thumb when swung forward coacting slidably with said index finger crosswise thereof and bearing against said middle finger, whereby said hand is prehensile. j

6. An artificial hand in which the forefinger and thumb are swingable on nonparallel axes, the middle finger being rigid on the metacarpus and said fingers being normally in a partly closed position. means urging said index finger forward yieldingly to said position, and said thumb being swingable a little finger mounted swingably thereon,

resilient means urging said fingers forward,

one or morefinger members mounted sub-4 stantially rigidly between said forefinger and little finger, a thumb member mounted swingably on an axis disposed lengthwise of the hand, and means adapted for extending back-along the arm of the wearer for swinging said" thumb member forward.

8. An artificial hand in which the fingers are normally in a semi-closed position, the two medial fingers being rigidly mounted and the adjacent lingers being hinged at their base, the thumb also being hinged at its ybase for swinging forward slidably past the indexf'finger and against the finger vadjacent thereto, yielding means urging said hinged fingers to their semi-closed position, and means manually controllable at will for operating said thumb.

9. An artificial hand, comprising a body member, an index nger hinged thereto, a rigidly mounted finger adjacent to the index finger, a .crooked thumb hinged to said body member, the hinge axes vof said index finger and thumb being' substantially perpendicular to each other, resilient means urging said index finger forward, .resilient means urging said thumb backward, flexible means extending backward from'saidhand for urging said thumb forward against said fingers,

and means for locking said thumb inuits forward position.

10. An artificial hand, comprising a meta; carpus or body part in combination with a thumb member mounted swingably thereon, means for swinging said thumb member for-. ward, resilient restoring means therefor, and a lock adapted for securing said thumb member in a-forward position.

11. An artificial hand, comprising a metacarpus or body part in combination with a thumb member mounted swingably thereon, means for swinging said thumb member forward, resilient restoring means therefor', and a lock adapted for securing said thumb member in a forward position, said lock including a plunger mounted slidably on the metacarpus for advancing into engagement with the thumb, the latter being formed for engagement with said plunger.

l2. An artificial hand, comprising a metacar'pus in combination with a thumb'member hinged thereon, the hinge axis being disposed longitudinally of the hand, one of said members having a plunger thereon and the other being formed for engagement with said plunger for 'locking the thumb in a fixed position relative to the metacarpus.

13. An artificial arm and hand adapted for securing to the wearer, in combination with a suspender disposed across the back and fitting the shoulders, and operating means extending from said suspender downward to the hand, said hand including a thumb mounted swingably on an axis parallel .with the hand, said operating means being connected to said thumb for operating the same.

14. An artificial hand, comprising a metalarius havingV a chamber therein, a thumb .member mounted swingabl)Y on an axis disposed parallel tothe hand at one side of said chamber, guide means 1n said chamber,

4and a cord leading downward to said hand and into said'chamber, said cord passing through said guide means and being attached to the thumb for operating the same.

l5. An artificial hand, comprising a metacarpus having a chamber therein, a thumb member swingable at its base on an axis parallel with the hand substantially;r in alinement with the base of thelfirst finger, guide means in said chamber. an operating cord extending down to vsaid hand and into said chamber, said'cord being connected to said thumb Vand passing through said guide means, and resilient restoring means dispo'sed in said chamber for opposing the action of said cord and adapted to restore the thumb after actuation by said cord. ,i

1'6. An' artificial hand, comprising a meta carpus haring finger 'members thereon, in combination with a thumb member swingable against the fingers and hinged at its base 0n an axis disposed in the body of the --metacarpus substantially in alinement with the base of the forefinger. tension and compression means attached to the ball of the lthumb for swinging the thumb forward and back vard respectively. and means for actuating one of said means at the will of the wearer.

Signed at Chicago this 22nd day of Dec., i915.

JAMES F. ROVLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents,

Washington, D. C. 

